We Could Make It
by Eyes for Eternity
Summary: Katniss/Gale run "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I've left. But I have to. I can't stand it anymore. I can't stand seeing myself become a work of the Capitol, their pride and joy. And I can't stand Snow being on my trail constantly. It's become too much. So I left"
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So I know this plot is overused. Sorry about that. But I think my version will turn out different. The story takes place when Katniss suggests she and Gale run away in Catching Fire (around pg 95). She doesn't let it slip that there are uprisings, so Gale agrees. And he convinces her that Peeta and Haymitch will be alright being left behind. Hope you like! Peace!**

**BTW, I don't own HG or CF or HG3. Yeah.**

**

* * *

  
**

I creep through the mansion, picking around at things to take with me. I get to where Mom keeps her medical supplies, and choose a few bandages and some of the life-saving medicines we might need. I choose some of the longest lasting Capitol foods I can find from the kitchen, and take a bit of Prim's cheese for breakfast. Then I walk back upstairs to my room, pulling out plenty of clothes and blankets to take. I also bring two of the expensive sleeping bags, and a few pairs of boots. I throw a hairbrush and a few toothbrushes in for good measure.

Then I sit down at my desk and write the letter. The letter that will explain to everyone close to me why I've left.

_Everyone,_

_ I'm sorry. I'm sorry I've left. But I have to. I can't stand it anymore. I can't stand seeing myself become a work of the Capitol, their pride and joy. And I can't stand Snow being on my trail constantly. It's become too much. So I left. Below are a few more messages I need everyone to know._

_ Mom. You can't leave again. I know I told you this before the Games, but it still counts. I'm gone. I can't take care of you and Prim any longer. And if you leave now, she'll be sent to the community home. You can never, ever let that happen. I love you Mom. And Dad did too. I'm sorry I haven't showed it since he died._

_ Prim. You're such a great little girl. You help people, you care, and you can take care of yourself. I volunteered for you because you're too good of a person to be killed in the ruthless killing machine the Capitol seems to think will teach us a lesson. Take care of yourself, and mom. And Buttercup._

_ Hazelle. Just wanted you to know how amazing you are. You're like a second mother to me. And you were able to hold it all together even after the explosion. Anything else you need to know, Gale will tell you._

_ Haymitch. Thanks. Thank you so much for making sure we survived the Games. I'm just sorry I won't be there to mentor the next poor unfortunate souls who are forced into the Games. I want you to make sure one of those kids come back alive, like we did. Don't. Let. Them. Die._

_ Peeta. I'm sorry I could never love you the way you loved me. I'm sorry I lied in the Games. But I had to. Thanks for the bread._

_ I'm sorry this wasn't enough. But I could never say enough to any of you, for anything. Thanks for being there all my life. But now I need to go. Gale and I will be fine. We'll find somewhere to stay. Don't worry. Make sure to thank everyone else not included in this letter. And once everyone's heard the message they need to, burn this. There are too many reasons why._

_-Katniss_

I don't dare mention that they needed to avoid the Peacekeepers. I don't dare say that they might die because of me.

I walk downstairs and set the note on the counter. Then I leave to meet Gale outside the fence.

* * *

He's already there, leaning against a tree with his bag slung over his shoulder.

"Hey Catnip," he says. I smile.

"Are you sure about this? Completely sure?" he asks. I think for a second. Do I really want to leave? Abandon everything I know? I decide I have to. It's either run away or let the Capitol control every aspect of my life until I die.

" Completely." Gale smiles, and pulls me into a hug. We break apart and look at District 12 one more time, until we start walking, leaving everything we know behind.

* * *

**Like it? Hate it? Think I should give up writing altogether because I suck so much (say that and I will hunt you down and spam your email to no end)? Review and I'll continue.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Kay, so this chapter is filled with just a few events from their first day of walking. I'm gonna add some either soulful moments or adventure next. **

**S.C. owns all.**

* * *

Light is beginning to peak over the horizon, and we reach the old house by the lake. I want so much to just stay there and sleep, but we can't stop now. In the next few hours Peacekeepers will be searching every corner of the district looking for us, and when they see that we aren't there, they'll look past the fence. If we stop now we're doomed. So we keep walking. My feet will soon be numb from the snow seeping through my boots, and my bag and arrows weigh down on my back. My fingers feel locked in place from holding my bow so long, and my lips are dry and chapped from the cold harsh air.

"So…" Gale murmers.

"So…" I repeat. Awkward silence consumes us. We left. There's nothing left to talk about.

* * *

It's been three hours now since we left. Three hours of painful, dull silence.

"You hungry?" I ask.

"I guess," he mutters. We stop under a big oak tree, in a clear patch of grass. Ugly, brown, dead grass, but it's better than soaking what clothes are still dry in the snow. I pull out some of Prim's cheese, and Gale takes some bread from his bag. We eat quickly, but stay on the ground to take a break.

"Gale, I'm sorry, I shouldn've never asked you to come wit-" I start. He cuts me off.

"You were completely right to ask me Katniss. I haven't lost anything." I shake my head.

"You've lost everything. Your family, your home, all of it. This is a better option for me. But it's the worst for you," I mutter.

"No. I'll give it all up for you." Silence engulfs the air again.

* * *

I stop walking, turning to Gale. He stops, confused. I wrap my arms around him.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," I mumble into his chest. His strong arms lock around my back, and he leans down a few inches to come to my height. Then he kisses me. At first, even though I shouldn't be surprised, I freeze in shock. It just takes a few moments for me to respond, standing up on my tip-toes and throwing my arms around his neck. My bow drops from my arm into the snow. The kiss is just…different. Peeta was always just sweet, gentle, submissive when he kissed me. But Gale is loving, passionate, and dominating. It was nice.

Finally I drop away from his grasp, sucking in air. He still holds my arms, my hands resting on his shoulders. Our breath steadies, and I feel blood rushing to my face. He smiles.

"I love you. I love you more than you could ever know, Katniss," he says. I look away. How do I tell him that I can't quite return the favor? Instead of responding, I pick up my bow and look ahead in the path.

"We…we should get going." A hurt, betrayed look crosses his face, but he starts walking. I trail behind, wishing I had said something, anything that wouldn't have this effect.

* * *

"Where are we going, anyway?" I ask.

"I have no idea." Gale says. I laugh. There really isn't anywhere for us to go, anyway.

"So I guess we'll just be living with the squirrels, huh?" I say. Now it's his turn to chuckle.

"Oh, I don't know. We could always go to District Thirteen, get ourselves radiation poisoning." The humorous mood dissolves away with that comment. We both know there's something going on in Thirteen. Those two girls from Eight had a theory, and it was right. Our voices die away, leaving just the sound of crickets and oncoming darkness to spill harmonies into the air.


	3. Chapter 3

I wake up to the crackling of our campfire. Gale is poking around in the ashes with a twig, an anonymous chunk of meat in the snow, waiting to be cooked. I rub the sleep from my eyes and wriggle out of my sleeping bag.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," Gale mutters. I crawl up next to the fire, staring into the flames.

"Morning. What's for breakfast?" I ask.

"Squirrel."

"Mm." I shiver in my coat, and try and shake the numbing cold from my arms. Gale slides the dead squirrel on a stick and holds it over the fire.

"When do you think the food will run out?" I ask. We brought plenty of food from home, but we'll finish it off eventually, or it might rot.

"Huh?" Gale asks, not really listening.

"When do you think we'll finish the food? Have to start hunting?" He looks up at me.

"I don't know. With what we've got maybe a week or two. It'll be enough to get us pretty far. Why?"

"Just wondering," I mutter. I stare out into the forest, and my breath rises in a foggy cloud in front of me. The squirrel finishes cooking, and Gale splits the meat between us. I finish mine, and start to pack up our makeshift camp.

"Wonder how everyone's doing," Gale thinks aloud.

"I hope he isn't worrying too much." I realize what I said and slap my hand over my mouth.

"I mean, I hope they aren't worrying too much. Everyone," I hurry, trying to cover up my slip. But the damage is done, and Gale has the same sad look on his face that kills me every time. He hurries to pack his things and starts off. I know it won't do any good to try and apologize, so I just pick up my bag and silently follow.

* * *

A crunch of snow and a rustle of leaves in the distance catches my attention. I stop, listening. And then I hear the sound. It's a loud cross between a bark and a snarl, echoing through the forest. Gale stops, and turns to me, eyes wide. We know what this is. Only ever seen it once, and that was a very, very bad day.

It's one of the Capitol's mutts. A cross between a cougar and a wolf. They were designed to be the ultimate killing machines, used to hunt down runaway criminals before they had perfected the airships. They were lethal, and killed the first thing they saw on contact. The Capitol got rid of them all after they began killing their trainers, but a few hundred had been left in the wild. They have a feline face, cold and snow-white, on a wolf's body.

Gale and I hurriedly throw our packs up into the trees, and start climbing. The creature comes into sight just as I reach my third branch, which, sadly, is completely in range of its jumping abilities. I pull myself up further, throwing my legs another level up. I'm safe. Gale lets out a sigh of relief, and leans down to help me the rest of the way up. I reach up, grabbing his hand-and the branch cracks. Gale's eyes widen.

"C'mon! Hurry!" He frantically pulls at my arms, but it's useless. My hands slip, and I fall to the second level of the branches. Easy target for the mutt. Gale starts climbing down to help me, but the thing is already there. My bow is tangled in the tree far up with the rest of my stuff, along with the knives and arrows. But it wouldn't matter. The capitol doesn't put out a genetically enhanced killer without toughening it up a bit. The arrows wouldn't make a dent.

The branch is bending. I'm maybe a meter above the mutt, which is now clawing at me. Gale just gets low enough to pull me up, but the creature sinks it's claws into my arm. I scream in pain.

"Katniss, come on!" Gale yells, hoisting me away from the creature. Tears of pain flow down my face, my arm bleeding more than it ever should. I blindly force myself up into the branches until I'm just out of reach. Gale climbs to the branch across from me.

"Crap, oh god, Katniss…" he mutters, pulling his jacket off and wrapping it around my shredded arm. A dark haze rims my vision. It closes in until I'm left in a black void of unconsciousness.


	4. Hiatus

HIATUS NOTICE

Mkayz. So I'm doomed. I have this terrible, crappy writer's block, and I can't get rid of it. So this story is officially on hiatus. I have no idea when I'll start it again, but it will not be updated this month. Even if I do get out of the block, finals are coming up and I have to get in the AP classes if I want any chance at getting AP/honors classes in high school. I can't really guarantee anything in June either. I've got a crapload of crap then too. I really just have no dates set for when I'll start writing again. Sorry :-(


	5. Announcement

**So, uh, I have a rather important announcement.**

**This, along with all my other stories, is on permanent hiatus.**

**Why?**

**1. That writers block I have? It's been going on since January. My ability to write has long since left me. I've begun to fear for the worst. (Whatever 'the worst' would be...)**

**2. My computer crashed, deleting ALL my document files. Which means that I've lost any new chapters I might've started, any story idea docs, everything. Mix that with the whole writing block thing, and I'll basically be taking the story and continuing from scratch, because after half a year, I remember nothing about where the stories were supposed to go.**

**3. I have to read To Kill a Mockingbird by August for school credits. Usually I could finish it in a week at the most, but I tried reading it earlier this summer, and I find that for some reason it's a very frustrating book for me to read. If I knew why, believe me, I would've fixed it. I think it might be because it's based on normal people, living in a normal world, not fantasy people, or people living in the future reality or a fantasy world. I really can't stand reading books about normal people. It seems really redundant. But anyway, I have to read it by August, and it'll take priority over writing. That's assuming I get out of my block in the next month.**

**So, uh, yeah. Not gonna delete them, because I can't stand the thought of absolutely and completely abandoning them to the point where I actually lose them forever, but I'm not going to even spend my time trying to continue them anymore. If you like a plotline and would like to continue it, message me and we'll talk.**

**So yeah. Sorry. But I can't count on myself being able to write again for a long, long time.**

**~Sarah**


End file.
